Natsuki felt her breath leave her body, and she heard her father let out a small dismayed gasp when they both heard the beautiful, honey-haired girl before them murmur that she was blind.
"My dear, I am terribly sorry if I came off as insensitive just now. I did not know...about your condition," Hiro said in a slightly-anxious voice, as he looked back into Shizuru's unseeing eyes.
Shizuru smiled softly in the direction of Hiro's voice, and held her hand up in a placating motion.
"It is quite alright, Mr. Kuga. Most people don't actually know. It's not something that I actively advertise after all," Shizuru said with a small, amused smile as she once again closed her eyes. She felt most comfortable with her eyes closed as she knew that it made others nervous to stare into her crimson-eyes, when they knew she couldn't see the stare back. People tried not to show their nervousness, but Shizuru could always tell that they were. She could hear it in their voices, and the small nervous shuffling their feet would do as they shifted uncomfortably about.
The only people she could honestly say were never nervous around her were her parents, and her two best friends Haruka and Yukino.
Shizuru felt a small smile pull across her lips as she thought about her 'exuberant' blond-haired friend, and her much quieter brown-haired friend. The three of them had been friends since childhood and had been there for each other, through everything good and bad that had happened in their lives. Including the genetic-based loss of Shizuru's eye sight. The chestnut-haired girl didn't know what she would have done, without the loving support of her family and close friends.
Her piano playing skills had also been a lifesaver to her, as she grappled with the loss of her sight. Once her eyesight had started to go at the tender age of five, she had spent the next year in a kind of self-imposed exile in her room. She didn't go to school, and her parents didn't force her. They were just as devastated as she was over the loss of their little girl's ability to see, and they would do absolutely anything to make sure that her life was made as easy as possible.
It was Shizuru's grandfather who had finally been able to bring his poor, hurting granddaughter out of the pit of utter despair she had fallen into. Shizuru's grandmother, his wife who had passed away a few years before, had also had genetic blindness. It was how Shizuru had inherited hers. It was passed down through her family genes. Shizuru's parents had hoped and prayed that it was pass over their precious, little girl but it was not meant to be. So Shizuru's grandfather brought over to his granddaughter's home, the baby grand piano his wife used to play everyday. He patiently and lovingly showed a young Shizuru how to hear the notes, and follow along on the piano keys.
Eventually through her grandfather's constant presence and teachings, and her parents ever-present love and support, Shizuru began to come out of the dark shell she had wrapped herself in. She began to play the piano everyday, learning songs by ear. She also began to interact more with the other children from the neighbourhood like Haruka and Yukino, who quickly became her closest friends. Haruka didn't care whether the honey-haired girl could see or not. She always used to cry out to anyone who listened, that it took GUTS to be a strong person. Haruka had learned about 'GUTS' from her favourite 5-person super 'Rangers' show, where they always fought against the forces of evil, and did it with GUTS to save the people around them. Haruka said that Shizuru was a very strong person and her friend, and she would never betray her friendship and trust. Yukino was a soft-spoken girl who always saw the best in others and she provided a calm, sweet counterpart to Haruka's more boisterous ways.
The three of them grew up thick as thieves, and Haruka and Yukino were always protective of Shizuru as she struggled with, and eventually mastered living life with no true sight. Shizuru could see and differentiate between light and dark, but that was really all that she could do. And when children were mean and cruel as they tend to be, Haruka was always there to shake a threatening fist at them to 'leave her best friend alone!' Or Yukino would have a few choice, smart words to say to whoever was harassing Shizuru that usually made the tormentor run off crying.
Eventually Shizuru grew to master her disability, and she could now live her life as best as one with little to no sight could be expected to. Her piano playing skills became so good that her parents encouraged her to start playing at competitions and shows. When she began to win these contests, and word began to spread of her piano playing prowess, Shizuru was eventually offered a chance to put on her own concert shows, for people to come and pay to watch her play. She was fairly hesitant to do so at first, but when she and her parents discovered something that could have a profound impact on Shizuru's life and possibly change it completely, Shizuru changed her mind and decided to do the concerts to earn money.
That was two years ago when she had first turned sixteen. She was eighteen now and closer money-wise to her dream, but she and her parents were still short quite a bit the necessary funds they would need. That was why they were encouraging Shizuru to do more shows for the wealthy, and to grant the request from one of the wealthiest men around, Mr. Kuga, for her to meet him and his daughter, Natsuki Kuga.
And that was where Shizuru now found herself. Talking with the rich father and his daughter, and trying to make them feel at ease around her. It now amused Shizuru more than anything else, the reactions she received when she told people about her blindness. It used to bother her a fair bit, but as not everyone always reacted nervous or awkward when she told them, she eventually grew used to the more...strained...reactions. She enjoyed with a sense of relief the reactions of those who didn't treat her any differently when they found out.
"Well, I must say you are an astounding piano player, and an amazing young woman, Ms. Fujino. You have most certainly impressed this old man tonight," Hiro said with a hearty laugh, before he looked down at his daughter with a twinkle in his jade-green eyes. "Wouldn't you agree, my dear Natsuki?" Hiro asked as his dark-haired daughter looked up at him, blinking slightly as if she had just come out of a daze.
Natsuki nodded her head 'yes' once, before she turned back to look at Shizuru. And then before her brain realized what her mouth was about to say, Natsuki softly breathed out, "yes, you are amazing...and so beautiful."
Hiro blinked himself and Shizuru felt her face flush a soft, bright pink. Natsuki immediately realized what her mouth had just spouted out without her brain's permission, and she blushed a hot red.
"I-I-I mean...you're piano playing is amazing! And you look beautiful playing it...I mean...it's beautiful music you're playing, and you look amazing while doing it and uhhh..." Natsuki trailed off helplessly as her mouth continued to run away from her, while her brain sighed and walked away from the hole Natsuki's mouth was digging for it.
There was utter silence in the small dressing room for a few seconds, before a crystalline twinkle of laughter escaped Shizuru, and the hearty boom of Hiro's laughter filled the room.
Natsuki just dropped her face into her hands and buried her blazing-red face in them, as her father lightly ruffled her hair.
"Ahh, that's my Natsuki. Always know just how to warm up a conversation," Hiro said with gentle affection for his daughter, before he turned lightly-amused green eyes back towards Shizuru.
"My dear, you would do my daughter and I great honour, if you and your parents would come over to our home for dinner tonight. I would love to meet the people who raised such a wonderful young lady such as yourself," Hiro said as he moved forward, and gently took Shizuru's hand into his own.
Shizuru bestowed upon him and Natsuki a smile neither had seen before. One that was bright and filled with a genuine warmth, that left Natsuki feeling breathless and her legs wobbly.
"Would you come over Shizuru? Please!" Natsuki chimed in, as she too moved forward and took Shizuru's free hand into her own, and looked eagerly back at the older girl.
Shizuru felt herself start slightly in surprise as first Natsuki's father and then Natsuki herself gently took her hands into theirs, and asked her to come over to their family home. Shizuru thought back through her memories for a time when she had been so quickly and easily accepted by anyone, who she had revealed her blindness to and could only think of a very few, rare occurrences. Those of course included Haruka and Yukino, but aside from them it had been many years since Shizuru had felt this level of acceptance, and genuine like from someone she had told about her disability.
Shizuru gulped back sudden tears that sprung into her throat, as she slowly raised both her hands and with the gentlest, softest touch she began to trace her fingers along Hiro and Natsuki's faces.
Hiro started slightly, before he realized that Shizuru was 'learning' their faces, so that she could have a 'picture' of what he and his daughter looked like in her mind.
Natsuki's emerald-green eyes had slowly closed, as she enjoyed the gentle feel and touch of Shizuru's fingers tracing all along her face. The honey-brunette lightly swept her fingers down the sleek planes of Natsuki's cheeks, down the small ridge of her nose, along the low sweep of her forehead, and finally to the dips of her closed eyes.
Shizuru slowly re-opened her eyes, as she traced and learned Natsuki and her father's faces. Natsuki also re-opened her eyes once she felt Shizuru stop her face-tracing, only to have her breath once again taken away by the stunning, scarlet eyes that now looked back at her.
"It's a pleasure to 'truly' meet you both. It would be my honour to have dinner with you tonight," Shizuru answered with a soft smile.
Natsuki cheered happily and once again surprised herself, her father, and Shizuru by leaning forward and giving the chestnut-brunette a light kiss on the cheek.
Shizuru's mouth opened in a small 'o' as she raised a hand to her cheek, while her face burned brightly.
Hiro found himself blinking again in surprise over his daughter's actions, before he leaned back, put his hands on his stomach and roared with amused laughter.
Natsuki just dropped her face into her hands again and moaned softly, as her brain was once again too late to stop her body from doing something it hadn't given permission for.
Shizuru lightly rubbed her warm cheek where Natsuki had just placed her kiss, and an answering warmth began to fill her chest. She couldn't see the girl standing before her, but she knew she was stunningly beautiful from the gentle touches she'd placed across Natsuki's face. Shizuru also knew she was beautiful on the inside as well, as the warmth in her chest continued to spread. And Shizuru thought to herself in a slight daze, just maybe she could get to experience this strange, new feeling of warmth again if she got to know this girl better.
She was now looking truly looking forward to tonight's dinner with Natsuki.
Author's note - A big thank you to all who read this story's first chapter, and a huge thanks to those who took the time to review ^^
Your reviews help keep me motivated to write, so please continue to review~